MAR Data

MAR Data

MAR Qualitative

Minority Group Assessments

The minority group assessments consist of two parts: a risk assessment and an analytic summary. The risk assessment summarizes whether the group is at risk of rebellion, protest, or repression, based on levels of a number of other variables. The analytic summary gives a brief history of the group and its relations with the state. The group's values on key variables from the dataset are embedded within both components.

Minority Group Chronologies

Group chronologies detail important events in the history of the group and of the state in which they reside. Information for chronologies is culled from a variety of sources, including journalistic accounts, government reports, group organizations, and scholarly materials.

MAR Quantitative

Current MAR Data

The latest addition to the MAR dataset was released in February 2009 for the years 2004-2006.

The release of the 2004-2006 data marks the beginning of a new phase of data collection, Phase V. Phase V includes data on 71 variables. MAR users should note that there are significant changes from previous versions of MAR. Such changes are noted in the current codebook. The current release contains only data for 2004-2006. Project staff are reviewing past coding systematically in order to release a single, integrated dataset coded on an annual basis from 1980 through 2006. Furthermore, the project is no longer updating the MARGene data generation program. The project will be moving to a Web-based platform for the creation of customized datasets.

MARGene (a.k.a., the previous data release, through 2003):

The Minorities At Risk Data Generation and Management Program (MARGene) is designed to allow easy access to data in the Minorities at Risk dataset developed by Ted Gurr and associates (Gurr et al. 1993; Gurr 2000). MARGene makes it easy for scholars to access variables from this dataset, creating subsets of the data, interpolating across unobserved data points, and setting up the data for merging with other state-level datasets. Running in a standard Microsoft Windows environment, the program allows users to select variables from the Minorities at Risk dataset, specify subsets of the data based on time and space, and specify various options concerning data creation (such as whether to interpolate missing data or not). The program then creates a new, customized dataset that can be loaded into statistical analysis software such as Stata, SPSS, or Limdep, for further manipulation and/or analysis.

Following are all files related to MARGene:

MARGeneThe actual MARGene program software (setup.exe), including an older version of the MAR dataset. (5MB)

MAR Data as ASCII Text FileThe older version of the MAR dataset included within MARGene. For users who do not have access to Windows (Mac or Unix users, etc.), you may also download this older version the entire dataset as an ASCII text file (comma separated variables). However, be aware that the file is extremely large and has too many columns to be handled by some programs, including Excel. Therefore, when downloading the file, save it to disk before importing the data into the statistical package of your choice. In any event, users may find the full dataset to be unwieldy and difficult to manipulate, and we therefore encourage all users to download data through MARGene (which also produces output in ASCII format).

MAR Codebook and Documentation

The MAR codebook contains detailed information on each of the variables included in the MAR dataset. Coding conventions and examples are also provided. The codebook also explains the changes made between different phases of the project and covers the project's general history and development.

Discrimination Dataset

The discrimination dataset records overall levels of political and economic discrimination for all groups in the Minorities at Risk Project for the period 1950-2003. The variable coding is described in the MAR codebook, also available on this page. (No separate codebook is available.)

The discrimination dataset was used to produce the analysis in Asal and Pate, "The Decline of Ethnic Political Discrimination 1950-2003" in Peace and Conflict 2005, published by the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland, College Park. It is offered here in two versions: the first lists discrimination codes annually by minority group. The second lists codes annually by country. Each version is offered in two formats: SPSS and MS Excel.